The first adventure (1)

In the guild's first-floor room, the five young adventurers are preparing to sleep on the floor after two days of hard work. Their morale is low.

"Of course if I knew that we would do these shit jobs, I was quiet in mine!" Michael snorting while the other three confirm in chorus "You're right".

Simon answers "In fact, we have earned in two days what my father brings home after two weeks of work, so even if they were bad jobs, the pay is not bad at all."

Offended George says, "So why do we sleep on the floor? Why did we eat only bread and cheese?"

"Because tomorrow we have to buy the necessary for the driving job. We need backpacks, tangerines, stones to sharpen the blades and many other things. The work of after tomorrow is very risky, we must not leave anything to chance!"

Desmond yawning "So can we sleep now or not?"

The following day the group, with the help of Reginald, gets all the necessary equipment. The guild leader is impressed by the fact that the group has not spent any money earning in entertainment but has procured the mandatory accessories for every true adventurer.

The following day Simon walks in front of his group and is about to introduce himself to their new clients. The group of merchants is very varied.

The head looks like a mature man with graying hair and a relatively muscular body. Probably a former adventurer or soldier. A woman of the same age with an olive skin. Between the two we see a girl of the age of Simon, rather pretty, with blond hair like the woman and eyes and smile like the man. The last one is a short, stubby man with a thick, long beard.

Groups present themselves.

The man is called Gregor Ludwig, the third son of Baron Ludwig, a former mercenary. For the past fifteen years, together with his wife Shimmer Zal, he has been dealing with the import of rare goods. The two met during a military campaign in a southern country. The girl Selin is the daughter of the two and also the reason for the change of career of the man. The last one is Igor Brokenhead, a dwarf.

Gregor takes advantage of the presentations to understand the strengths of all the participants in the expedition and begins to repeat aloud the mental notes he is taking.

"Well, then we have: Simon, your boss, I understand that he is good at making decisions, but his skill is not very clear to me; then we have Desmond and George as avant-gardes with appropriate skills like 'warrior' and 'resistance'; then Michael and John remain as a rearguard with fairly useless skills like 'miner' and 'quick step'. But we have my experience in close combat and my skill, very versatile, is 'evaluate', my wife has the amazing skill 'minor cure', my daughter able to find tracks but with a rather useless skill, 'warm up' that we can use to eat during breaks and then our dwarf friend Igor with his phenomenal 'rune' skill that allows him to use countless spells."

"When you are ready we can leave. I hope you have already understood our need. We want, before the war begins, to find the fastest and safest way to get to the neighboring country and import as many goods as possible. We want to be the only ones with those goods when the borders start to be closed and patrolled. The mission is at the limits of legality so I want you to promise me the utmost privacy."

Simon quietly replies "I do not see the problem."

"Good!" By placing a map on a small wall nearby "Where do we start?"

"Well we did our research and asking refugees from settlements near the border, we think we can find a way almost at the first stroke."

In fact, Simon took advantage of the street cleaning work to talk to as many refugees as possible. Very few had any useful information but joining them all, he had a fairly clear idea of the disappearances. According to what has been discovered, the kidnappers are a small group that affects isolated people. This group has been seen or met by various people at various times and places. By marking all sightings on a small map the boy was able to identify a possible path to the border.

The current plan is to kill two birds with one stone. Use the work of the guild to follow the traces of slavers and show merchants the shortest and safest route to cross the border, the one used for the traffic of people.

Simon with a piece of coal draws a line on the map and says "I would say that this is the direction we need to keep. The path is almost certainly along this line. With the information and experience that we have in the area we can get without problems to this valley then we will have to proceed by elimination trying various paths. But I am convinced that thanks to Selin's help everything will be easier."

The girl blushes asking "How could I help you?"

"Your father said that you are good at following the tracks so once you get to this point we just follow the traces of deer that move between one valley and the other or if still fresh those of others who like us want to cross the border. My sources say that you are not the only ones with the idea of finding the fastest and safest route to cross the border."

Once agreed on what to do, the shipment begins.

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The group walks forward while Igor silently observes the new arrivals. He already understood what kind of people they are. A group of young people who have grown up without money who think they are getting out of misery and becoming adventurers. Unfortunately, the cemeteries are full of people like them.

Among the five, however, there are two unknowns. The first is Desmond, a boy exaggeratedly strong for his age. The dwarf is convinced that, if that boy was not a little dumb, he would have already been drafted to become a knight. The second is a sickly young man who heads all the others. He said that his skill is useless but nobody has understood correctly what it is. Also observing he seems capable in more activity.

While Igor is immersed in his thoughts a dull noise attracts the attention of the whole group. Michael screams frightened "It 's the sound of a landslide, I'm sure, let's be safe!"

As expected by someone with the 'miner' skill, after a few seconds a series of rocks slide down the side of the mountain to the left of the path towards them.

Everyone runs to shelter under a rock protuberance indicated by Michael. As the group runs to hide Selin stumbles. Simon, without thinking, rushes towards the girl and thanks to his acquired ability "Miner Minor" with a sharp blow widens the crack where the young girl's foot is interlocked. With a last effort he pushes her before a series of stones could separate them from the others.

Apparently Igor and Simon remained on this side of the landslide.

The dwarf screams without being seen by the boy "I was stuck by the rocks, see you later on the way."

Simon in return "Even for me it's the same, it's better to see us later."

Shimmer with a warm light from the right hand helps her daughter recover from ankle pain.

Igor inscribing a rune on his mantle is camouflaged with the surrounding stones and begins to follow Simon without being seen "I want to understand who that guy is."

Later on Simon is immediately in another bad situation. Elza standing next to the boy warns him that the mountain puma in front of him run very fast and that escape is not the solution, then she disappears in a sudden glow.

Simon curses and starts crying uncontrollably "What the fuck came to mind to chase me in this situation? I had to stay home and become Paul's clerk!"

Igor ready to intervene observes the puma turn around its prey ready to jump. Instead the boy continues to cry like a child.

Suddenly the puma makes his move. Simon dodges the animal rolling on its side against the stones. "To be so skinny, it holds the pain well ... as if it had the resistance skill? I would have been breathless!"

With the sword ready in hand the boy runs towards the blind corner of the animal. "His speed in the race is impressive!" and with a decisive blow the puma's hind leg is severed. The now lame animal retires to a corner ready for a desperate defense.

Simon looks at him and backs away from the animal "I have no intention of dying trying to finish you, you stay here and I go there, ok?"

At this point the dwarf hurries the pass and after a few hundred meters he rejoins Simon.

"Did you face that wounded puma in the back?"

"Yes, and as usual when I do something cool, nobody sees me."

Igor upset begins to think "It cannot be a coincidence, first he used a skill similar to 'miner' then 'resistance' and in sequence 'quick step' and 'warrior'. Every skill of his friends is in him. What monstrous skill does this young man have?"

"A scholar like me can't stay away from this guy!"

Then the dwarf breaks out in a loud laugh.